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Dissemination of the project in Katerini's Press

3rd Junior High School of Katerini



In the process of disseminating the project we visited the local TV Channel, DION Channel, on the 25th January and we presented the Project, our expectations from it and what we have done so far. We talked about the activities which will follow in the next months and we were asked to go back again with our Basque partners when they are here at the end of the project next year.  It was a superb experience for both students and teachers. You can watch the interview in the following links:





Our project also appeared in the major local newspaper Olympio Vima. The article presents a summary of the project, the activities done so far, games and sports activities as well as language heritage activities. You can see the digital article in the following link



ELEXALDE WILL HAVE A GREEK ACCENT



It takes part in an Erasmus project with another school from the hellenic town Katerini, with which there will be a cultural exchange.

Galdakao

The high school Elexalde from Galdakao has been one of the two schools from the Basque Country selected to carry out an Erasmus + project. In particular, it is going to strengthen ties with a secondary high school from the Greek town Katerini, a town approximately an hour from Thessaloniki. An initiative which responds to the title " Discover and share your identity mark" which will bring an exchange between Basque and hellenic students.
All started at the end of February,  when Elexalde decided to present an Erasmus + project." We see the necessity to internasionalise the school and the Latin teacher knew another school in Greece, so we started the contact" explains Gemma Gutiérrez one of the responsible of the project from Elexalde. Some weeks later, in August, they received the positive result,so they started the preparations.
It is a project which deals with some aspects related to the cultural, architectural, natural historical and maritime heritage about the hellenic and Basque cultures.
"As it is the Year of the European heritage, the main objective of this enriching project is to make  students aware about their own cultural heritage, discover Katerini heritage ( Greece) , reflect on both and share it with a respectful and tolerance mind" points out Mrs Gutierrez.
It will take place during two years, considering this school year 2019-2020 and it is aimed at students who are in 3 DBH.
First contacts

The first approaches or mobilities as they are named in the project, have materialised.
Gemma Gutierrez and her colleague Iratxe Cuñado travelled to Katerini in October " We went to train ourselves in the platform we will use to disseminate the project eTwinning , to know the Greek educational system and to know the people who will participate" explain " We have also exchanged Good Practice" adds Gemma Gutiérrez .In May hellenic teachers will return the visit " they will come to Elexalde , and then we will train in assessment tools and disseminate the project and they will also know our students" announces the Basque project initiatives.
For next school year, the two students' events led by students will take place,  which will be full of activities " In March 2020 15 students from Elexalde will go to Katerini where they will work different aspects of the project visiting places around the area related to the heritage" describes. Among them, for example the slopes of Mount Olympus.
Two months later, in May, the Greek students will visit us" We will have to organise the activities and we have already designed some of them " For example and considering the importance of rural sport, we will organise a sport competition. In Greece  the students from Galdakao will be challenged with ancient sports.Not without reason, those have the honour to host the first Olympic Games in the history.
There will be much more" In the natural heritage , we will bring them to Urdaibai, in the cultural we will visit Guggenheim and we will also go to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe or the Old Part of Bilbao. Precisely, in Bilbao we will  explain to them the transfomation  
 of the city through the river" describes Gemma Gutiérrez. We will also have time to talk about Greek and Basque mythology or taste the best food of each place." We will see Greek recipes and we will teach them Basque ones and we will organise a type of Masterchef" announces .They won't forget to dance, so the Basque dances and the Greek ones will be protagonists.
All of it has been possible due to the collaboration of some departments  of  Elexalde high school.   ." Apart from the English department, the main teachers from other subjects take also part: Art,Music, Basque, Language, Physical Education , History and Science" point out.
Precisely , Shakaspeare language has an important role in Erasmus +" Although we will learn some words in Greek and they will learn some words in Basque comunication between students will be in English, so it will be very important the improvement in this field"celebrate.
 


THE INTERNATIONAL BASQUE LANGUAGE DAY

As our next subject is the language as a cultural heritage and today we celebrate a special day for our language. We would like you to know a bit about our language:
The International Day of the Basque Language (one of the few surviving pre-Indo-European languages) is celebrated on December 3.
Basque Language Day was instituted in 1948 by the Society for Basque Studies. December 3 was chosen to honor Saint Francis Xavier, whose feast day is celebrated on this date. St. Francis Xavier was a Roman Catholic missionary from Navarre. According to legend, his last words before passing away were in Basque, as it was Xavier's mother tongue.
This year a project called Euskaraldia has been promoted by several associations dedicated to the promotion of Euskara ( Basque Language) that for 11 days will invite participants to take the role of Ahobizi or Belarriprest. Ahobizi are those people who speak in Basque with everyone who understands the language and speak to strangers using, at least, the first word in Basque. On the other hand, Belarriprest are those people who at least understand Basque and who invite the rest to address them in this language.
Elexalde bhi takes part in the celebrations of both the International Day of the Basque Language and Euskaraldia.

We will soon teach you a few words in Basque, every week oneon Instagram!!!!